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Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai
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Wikipedia article
'Jis Desh Mein Ganga Behti Hai' is a 1960List of Bollywood films of 1960 Indian film directed by Radhu Karmakar and produced by Raj Kapoor. The film stars Padmini, Raj Kapoor and Pran in lead roles. This was the first directorial venture of Karmakar, who had previously been cinematographer for many of Kapoor's films. The film was the last B&W movie of Raj Kapoor. It was declared a "hit" at Box Office India.
The team of Shankar Jaikishan composed the songs, lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri, including "O Basanti Pawan Pagal", "Aa Ab Laut Chalen", and "Hothon Pe Sacchai Rehti Hai".
The outdoor shooting with the marble rock background is done in Bhedaghat in Madhya Pradesh.
Plot
Raju (Raj Kapoor) is a poor, friendly orphan who wins his bread by singing songs. One day, he sees an injured man and helps him. Later, he is kidnapped by a few bandits who mistake him to be an undercover policeman. It then turns out that the injured man he helped is the leader (Sardar) of this gang. The Sardar takes good care of Raju and treats him with honour. Sardar's daughter Kammo (Padmini) falls in love with Raju. Kammo and Sardar convince Raju that they are good bandits who are making sure that wealth is equally distributed amongst people.
On one of the lootings, Raju witnesses the murder of a newlywed couple. He decides to go to the police and leaves the gang. One of the bandits, Raka (Pran), kills the Sardar and takes over; he wishes to forcibly wed Kammo. When Raju tells all the truth to the police, they decide to confront and kill the bandits. Raj begs the police to not kill them but is shunned. Raju is then posed in a dilemma of what to do and finds himself helpless when he sees police stooping just as low to stop crime.
This movie was inspired by initiatives of Vinoba Bhave And Jai Prakash Narayan, on their call, hundreds of dacoits surrendered to police and mainstreamed to the society at large.
Cast
* Raj Kapoor as Raju
* Padmini as Kammo
* Pran as Raka
* Chanchal as Bijli
* Lalita Pawar as Mirabai
* Raj Mehra as Police Superintendent
* Tiwari as Mirabai's Husband
* Nana Palsikar as Tau
* Nayampalli as Sardar
* Salochana Chatterjee as Police Superintendent's wife
* Vishwa Mehra as Bhimu
* Baboo Rao
* S.K.Singh
* Rattan Gaurang
* Chang
* Mohamed Ali
* Anwari Bai
* Sadhana
* Azim
* Master Amar
* Moolchand as Groom's father
Music
Composed by Shankar Jaikishan, lyrics by Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri.
Awards
The film won many prestigious awards at National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards. The film stood out at the 9th Filmfare Awards function by winning the most (four) awards in various categories from eight nominations.
; 9th Filmfare Awards
'Won'
* Best Film Raj Kapoor
* Best Actor Raj Kapoor
* Best Editing G.G. Mayekar
* Best Art Direction M. R. Acharekar
'Nominated'
* Best Director Radhu Karmakar
* Best Actress Padmini
* Best Supporting Actor Pran
* Best Music Director ShankarJaikishan
* Best Lyricist Shailendra for "Hothon Pe Sacchai"
* Best Male Playback Singer Mukesh for "Hothon Pe Sacchai"
;National Film Awards
* 1960: Certificate of Merit for Best Feature Film in Hindi
Further reading
* Rajni Bakshi, "Raj Kapoor", in Ashis Nandy, ed., 'The Secret Politics of Our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema' (Delhi: Palgrave Macmillan, 1998), 92-117.
References
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